Hunted By The Pack

For thousands of years dogs and humans have lived with an unspoken bond, ever since wolves evolved into cooperation with mankind our mutual understanding and trust has been beneficial to both species. Though not all men have had the noblest and truest intentions breaking that trust, every year millions of dogs are released into the dangerous world to fend for themselves becoming feral and either living off the land or dying from disease and neglect. Even though many die some do live and their animalistic nature resurges, becoming aggressive and harboring ill feelings toward their old masters for the turn and betrayal.

In the Australian produced film The Pack a family learns the cost of mankind’s neglect to a species that we bred for their strengths and qualities to protect us.

A sheep farmer in financial dire discovers that the cause of his stock’s ruthless demise is a hungry pack of feral dogs who over the years has mated with the local wolf population creating a hybrid species with a voracious taste for flesh and completely lacking fear of man.

This amazing horror movie was filmed in Australia but does not take place in the George Miller desert Outback, it is in the greenland hills of Queensland where this home invasion of Straw Dogs meets the terror of Cujo.

Sometimes in killer dog movies we see the living animals used to film panting and not looking so terrifying altering the state of mind of a viewer thus destroying the atmosphere attempting to be established. The creature effects in The Pack are so life like I am still unsure if they used actual dogs in the film or computer graphics mixed with practical effects to make the antagonist actually visually frightening throughout the film.

The Pack is a serious resurrection of the killer dog franchise which builds upon and perfects what movies before it such as Man’s Best Friend and Cujo attempted to create.

Distributed in the United States by IFC Midnight which appears to be on the ball with recent horror trends, it is available currently on Netflix and is without a doubt an unrealized archetype. When finished you may find yourself quickening the pace next time you hear a few barks in the distance, it may be the neighbor’s labrador or it may be a pack of discards looking for revenge on their long lost keepers. I give The Pack 4 1/2 out of 5 Claws.

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I always have trouble with movies featuring animals because I end up feeling sorry for them. Like Cujo, I believe I was the only one in the world who felt for the dov. This might be because King wrote Cujo in his voice & feelings. This movie sounds interesting though.